Mewat Recalls Mahatma's Visit in 1947 as Violence Grips Mewat in 2023 Again
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
7 August
2023
Mahatma
Gandhi Had Consoled People Of Mewat
Main
Points:
1.
Mahatma visited Mewat to dissuade Muslims from migrating to Pakistan.
2.Chaudhary
Yasin Khan had invited him.
2.
Meo Muslims had abandoned their plan to leave India in Mahatma's request.
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Mahatma Gandhi. Photo: Unknown/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
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Mewat has
witnessed communal violence since last week. Some people including a imam of a
mosque have been killed. The violence erupted during a Yatra taken out by
Hindus.
This Yatra
was taken out in Nuh every year but never before it turned violent. This time
the rise of Hindutva politics was behind the communal conflagration. Many
villagers, mostly Muslims have fled to save their lives. But unfortunately, no
political leader has visited to console the villagers and to do something to
ring back peace. But on 19 December 1947, amid the communal violence, Mahatma
Gandhi had visited Mewat to appeal to the dissuade Meo Muslims from leaving
India and migrating to Pakistan. They were leaving India because of attacks on
them in Alwar and Bharatpur. On Ch. Yasin Khan's invitation, Mahatma Gandhi had
visited Mewat's Jesarah village and stayed there for a week in severe cold. He
appealed to the Muslims not to leave India because India was their homeland.
Mewat's Muslims were moved by Gandhiji's appeal and abandoned their plans to
leave India. Vivek Shukla, in his article laments the fact that in the current
situation no important political leader has visited the riot affected Gurugram
and Nuh.
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With Mewat
in Flames, Remembering Gandhiji’s Visit to the Region in 1947
By
Vivek Shukla
7 August
2023
It was a
shivering cold morning in Delhi on December 19, 1947. Cold winds were blowing
and there was no trace of the sun. The mood in Delhi was sombre, as many parts
of the capital like Karol Bagh, Pahar Ganj and Shahdara were in flames due to
unabated communal violence despite the untiring efforts of Mahatma Gandhi.
Since his arrival at Shahdara Railway station on September 9, 1947 from
Calcutta – after controlling the riots there – he was again visiting the
riot-torn areas.
That
morning, Gandhi was at the Birla House at Tees January Marg. He was ready to
visit Gurugaon’s Jesarah village, around 55 kilometres from Delhi. He had been
asked to visit the region by respected Meo leader Ch. Yasin Khan. A member of
the Punjab assembly and the Unionist Party, Khan met Gandhiji on September 20,
1947 at Birla House and told him that hundreds of Muslims from the Mewat region
were planning to leave for Pakistan because of the violence they faced in Alwar
and Bharatpur.
After
hearing this plea, Gandhi told Khan that he would visit Mewat soon.
On December
19, 1947, his programme was conveyed to Khan and others. They made elaborate
arrangements for Gandhi’s address at Jesarah village panchayat ground. Gandhi
reached there before 12:30 pm. It would have taken around two hours to reach
there, as roads beyond Dhaula Kuan were pathetic during those days. He was
accompanied by Gopi Chand Bhargava, the chief minister of Punjab, and a couple
of others from Delhi.
According to
a report in The Harijan on December 28, 1947, Gandhiji told the packed Jesarah
panchayat ground, “My voice was not so powerful as it once used to be. There
was a time when whatever I said was acted upon. If I had the original power,
not a single Muslim should have found it necessary to migrate to Pakistan from
India or a single Hindu or Sikh to leave his home in Pakistan and seek asylum
in the Indian Union.” The capacity crowd was listening to his address with full
attention.
Gandhi
added that “the murder, arson, loot, abductions, forcible conversation were
really barbaric.” He was referring to gory incidents that rocked the country
after India’s partition. Naturally, he was very sad about the state of affairs
and sounded helpless. A 17-year-old boy was also there at Jesarah panchayat
ground with his father and other family members. He later became Maulana Jameel
Iliyasi and established the mosque on the capital’s Kasturba Gandhi Marg. Years
later, his eyes become moist recalling Gandhi’s historic visit to Mewat. He
believes that Mewat would remain indebted to the Mahatma for giving a helping
hand when it was facing a great deal of trouble.
The
ground where Gandhi spoke. Photo: Special arrangement
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The Harijan
further reports that Gandhi said, “I would feel happy if my words could bring
some consolation to you in the distress.” Referring to the Meo refugees, who
had been driven out of Alwar and Bhartapur states, Gandhi remarked that he
looked forward to the day when all enmities would be forgotten and hatred
buried underground and all those who had driven away from their hearths and
homes would return to them and resume their evocations in perfect security and
peace as before.
Finally, he
told all those planning to move to Pakistan to shun their decision. “India
belongs to you and you belong to India.” And Meos did not disappoint him. They
decided to stay in Gandhi’s India rather than move to Jinnah’s Pakistan.
And at the
end of his address, Gandhi remarked, “I am told Meos were almost like criminal
tribes. If the statement was correct, it called for an all out effort on their
part to reform them.” Surely, only a brave man like Gandhiji could have made
this statement to them. After his address at Jesarah, he spent some time with
Meo leaders at Khan’s home and had his vegetarian lunch there. As the cold
conditions were becoming severe, the dhoti-clad Gandhi left for Delhi to attend
his multi-faith prayer meeting. There too, he discussed the Jesarah trip.
Cut to now:
No leader worth his salt has visited Mewat after the riots and destruction that
have erupted there recently. Meanwhile, a school in the name of Gandhiji exists
in Jesarah. Some village elders assemble there every year on December 19 to
commemorate Gandhi’s visit.
----
Vivek
Shukla is a journalist.
Source: With Mewat
in Flames, Remembering Gandhiji’s Visit to the Region in 1947
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/mewat-mahatma-gandhi-1947-violence/d/130406
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